The coalition government has done more increases to public servants’ salaries in three years — a third of the time it took its predecessor, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), to deliver just under the same results.
Making this statement recently at Congress Place, Sophia, was Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who was at the time outlining to the media the achievements of the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government.
He told media operatives that the coalition made several promises to the nation during its May 2015 campaign trail and has, thus far, is comfortable with its delivery.
Zeroing on wage increases for public servants, he noted that in three years the minimum wage was increased by 61.74 percent from $39,570 in 2015 to $64,000 in 2018. The PPP when it was in government, Jordan said, took nine years to move the minimum wage from $26,070 in 2006 to $39,570 in 2015, or 51.78 percent.
The minister reiterated previous comments he made to the effect that all government workers can expect salary increases going forward, especially in 2019 and 2020.
Last month, Jordan said that his ministry is already negotiating with teachers on these increases. He had expressed optimism that the meetings can be concluded in time for the figures to be included in the 2020 National Budget. That utterance was made prior to the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which validified the no-confidence motion against the government.
President David Granger has since conceded to that ruling and has accepted that his government is operating in a caretaker capacity and has since relinquished its legal authority which restricts it from passing a national budget.
Jordan, however, said that while the government cannot pass or present a budget, it can still lay the groundwork for one. This, he said, will allow for the victor of the impending general and regional elections to have something to build on, rather than having the nation wait for the new government to craft a new budget.
